{"id":87038,"date":"2025-05-07T11:21:33","date_gmt":"2025-05-07T16:21:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=87038"},"modified":"2025-05-07T11:23:22","modified_gmt":"2025-05-07T16:23:22","slug":"gender-affirming-care-does-not-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/gender-affirming-care-does-not-work\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;Gender-Affirming Care&#8221; Does Not Work"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<p><strong>Source:<\/strong> &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/opa.hhs.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/2025-05\/gender-dysphoria-report.pdf\">Treatment for Pediatric Gender Dysphoria: Review of Evidence and Best Practices<\/a>,&#8221; Department of Health and Human Services, 1 May 2025.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Health authorities have also recognized the exceptional nature of this area of medicine. That exceptionalism is due to a convergence of factors. One is that the diagnosis of gender dysphoria is based entirely on subjective self-reports and behavioral observations, without any objective physical, imaging, or laboratory markers. The diagnosis centers on attitudes, feelings, and behaviors that are known to fluctuate during adolescence.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Additionally, the natural history of pediatric gender dysphoria is poorly understood, though existing research suggests it will remit without intervention in most cases.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;These authorities now recommend psychosocial approaches, rather than hormonal or surgical interventions, as the primary treatment.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The umbrella review found that the overall quality of evidence concerning the effects of any intervention on psychological outcomes, quality of life, regret, or long-term health, is very low. This indicates that the beneficial effects reported in the literature are likely to differ substantially from the true effects of the interventions.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The risks of pediatric medical transition include infertility\/sterility, sexual dysfunction, impaired bone density accrual, adverse cognitive impacts, cardiovascular disease and metabolic disorders, psychiatric disorders, surgical complications, and regret.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;In the U.S., the most influential clinical guidelines for the treatment of pediatric gender dysphoria are published by WPATH and the Endocrine Society. A recent systematic review of international guideline quality did not recommend either guideline for clinical use after determining they &#8216;lack developmental rigour and transparency.&#8217; &#8230; In the process of developing SOC-8, WPATH suppressed systematic reviews its leaders believed would undermine its favored treatment approach. SOC-8 developers also violated conflict of interest management requirements and eliminated nearly all recommended age minimums for medical and surgical interventions in response to political pressures. &#8230; U.S. medical associations played a key role in creating a perception that there is professional consensus in support of pediatric medical transition. This apparent consensus, however, is driven primarily by a small number of specialized committees, influenced by WPATH. It is not clear that the official views of these associations are shared by the wider medical community, or even by most of their members. There is evidence that some medical and mental health associations have suppressed dissent and stifled debate about this issue among their members.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;There is a dearth of research on psychotherapeutic approaches to managing gender dysphoria in children and adolescents. This is due in part to the mischaracterization of such approaches as &#8220;conversion therapy.&#8221; A more robust evidence base supports psychotherapeutic approaches to managing common comorbid mental health conditions. Psychotherapy is a noninvasive alternative to endocrine and surgical interventions for the treatment of pediatric gender dysphoria. Systematic reviews of evidence have found no evidence of adverse effects of psychotherapy in this context.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;A central theme of this Review is that many U.S. medical professionals and associations have fallen short of their duty to prioritize the health interests of young patients. First, there was a rapid expansion and implementation of a clinical protocol that lacked sufficient scientific and ethical justification. Second, when confronted with compelling evidence that this protocol did not deliver the health benefits it promised, and that other countries were changing their policies appropriately, U.S. medical professionals and associations failed to reconsider the &#8220;gender-affirming&#8221; approach. Third, conflicting evidence-evidence that challenged the foundational assumptions of the protocol and the professional standing of its advocates-was mischaracterized or insufficiently acknowledged. Finally, dissenting perspectives were marginalized, and those who voiced them were disparaged. While no clinician or medical association intends to fail their patients-particularly those who are most vulnerable-the preceding chapters demonstrate that this is precisely what has occurred.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Source: &#8220;Treatment for Pediatric Gender Dysphoria: Review of Evidence and Best Practices,&#8221; Department of Health and Human Services, 1 May 2025. &#8220;Health authorities have also recognized the exceptional nature of this area of medicine. That exceptionalism is due to a convergence of factors. One is that the diagnosis of gender dysphoria is based entirely on&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[305],"class_list":["post-87038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-issues","tag-transgenderism"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":33792,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-advise-someone-who-claims-to-have-gender-dysphoria\/","url_meta":{"origin":87038,"position":0},"title":"How do I advise someone who claims to have gender dysphoria?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 28, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good day! I hope you are doing well. I have a friend who's a transgender atheist, though she did not surgically alter her body (since she's barely a teenager). She inwardly feels that she is a he. She has even demanded us to call her by a male name,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":51947,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-galatians-328-support-gender-diversity\/","url_meta":{"origin":87038,"position":1},"title":"Does Galatians 3:28 support gender diversity?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 19, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi Mr. Hamilton, I've found out that a large number (possibly a majority) of my friends are LGBTQQIAA+. Some are genderqueer, transgender, gay, lesbian, pansexual, and asexual. A very large percentage of my year group is not straight or cisgender. I know that having homosexual sex is wrong. Should\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":86582,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/fatal-flaws-in-transgender-brain-studies\/","url_meta":{"origin":87038,"position":2},"title":"Fatal Flaws in Transgender Brain Studies","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 12, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Source: Colin Wright, \"Transgender Brain Studies are Fatally Flawed,\" City Journal, 14 March 2025. \"The notion that males can have 'female brains,' and vice versa, rests on a flawed interpretation of 'brain sex' studies that in no way demonstrate or even suggest a definitive biological basis for 'gender identity.'\" \"The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Issues&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Issues","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":38238,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/over-diagnosis-of-adhd-indicated\/","url_meta":{"origin":87038,"position":3},"title":"Over Diagnosis of ADHD Indicated","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 2, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Source: \"An 'astronomical' rise in ADHD diagnosis,\u00a0The New York Times, published in\u00a0Omaha World-Herald, 02 April 2013. I don't know why this is so surprising. Common sense has indicated for decades that children were being drugged for no other reason than to keep classrooms calm and to allow parents to control\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Childhood&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Childhood","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/parenting\/childhood\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24967,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-are-there-birth-defects-and-is-changing-your-gender-fixing-a-defect\/","url_meta":{"origin":87038,"position":4},"title":"Why are there birth defects? And is changing your gender fixing a defect?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 11, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: If God made man in His own image and said that it was excellent, then why are there birth defects, and isn't fixing a birth defect the same as changing your gender if you're homosexual? Answer: For your first question, see the sermon outline \"Does God Make the Handicapped?\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":85559,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/gender-roles-within-the-sacrificial-system\/","url_meta":{"origin":87038,"position":5},"title":"Gender Roles Within the Sacrificial System","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 11, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Perry Hall Gender requirements were specified in the Mosaic sacrificial system. We will reveal how this is important to our topic of gender roles within the church. Before that, let's examine the gender specifications. The priesthood and the Levitical ministers were all males. This is undisputed and must be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87038"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87038\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}